Obama nominates a gay man as Army Secretary. . . And, predictably, Mike Huckabee crawled out from under his anti-gay rock to insult them both

Photo of Eric Fanning from the White House

President Obama has nominated Eric Fanning, a gay man, to be the next Secretary of the Army.   He is highly qualified, having long served in various staff positions on the House Armed Services Committee and the Department of Defense, including Undersecretary of the Air Force, Chief of Staff and Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, and currently as Acting Under Secretary of the Army.   He has also worked in the White House as Associate Director of Political Affairs.

I don't doubt that the president had positive reasons for wanting to nominate the first openly gay person as the civilian head of a service branch.   So what?  As long as he is qualified -- and he certainly is.  It rounds out Obama's admirable record of ending anti-gay discrimination in the federal government -- which includes the U. S. Army that Fanning would now oversee.

I wish that was the end of the story and that Fanning's nomination would sail through senate confirmation.   Perhaps it will.   They already confirmed him once for Undersecretary of the Air Force.

But Mike Huckabee had to hurl his insults to pander to his narrow-minded constituency, since riling up the religious rights is his only strategy in his failing political race.   He's tied for 8th place at 4% in the last Quinnipiac poll.  Naturally the Huckster jumps at a microphone and implies that Obama nominated Fanning only because he is gay, saying:

"Obama is so obsessed with pandering to liberal interest groups he's nominated an openly gay civilian to run the Army. Homosexuality is not a job qualification. The U.S. military is designed to keep Americans safe and complete combat missions, not conduct social experiments."

According to political editor Sam Levine, the Army doesn't seem to share Huckabee's concerns.  Defense Secretary Ash Carter called Fanning "one of our country’s most knowledgeable, dedicated, and experienced public servants.”

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense Derek Chollet said:  “I can’t think of any civilian with more experience with the services, having served in senior positions in all three.  He understands all of their unique cultures and processes.”

Phil Carter, a  senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and an Iraq war veteran said:  “My sense is that the Army is over this and has been over it for some time.  The Army cares whether you can shoot straight, not whether you are straight.”

It's time for Mike Huckabee and his ilk to get over it too.   In 2015, his comments reflect badly on himself, not on Eric Fanning or Barack Obama.

Ralph